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Lake County Captains

Captains And Power Playoff Preview

September 2, 2008 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Charleston, WV) - The Lake County Captains open post season play for the first time since 2003 on Wednesday at 7:05 PM in Charleston against the West Virginia Power, the Class "A" Affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. In game one, the Captains will send RHP Joey Mahalic (7-6, 4.19) to the mound to face the Power's RHP R.J. Seidel (9-5, 4.51).

The series will be a best of three games with game two being played at Classic Park in Eastlake on Friday September 5th at 7:05 PM. Game three, if necessary, will be played on Saturday September 6th also at Classic Park at 7:05 PM.

The series will feature two teams with different strengths. The Captains, who won the first half title, are a team that relies on great pitching, good defense and speed and timely hitting. The Power is a club that has outstanding hitting, great speed and good pitching.

The Captains won the regular season series winning seven of the twelve meetings. The Captains were 3-0 at Appalachian Power Park but 4-5 at Classic Park in Eastlake.

The Captains are among the lead leaders in most pitching categories. They finished with the third lowest ERA (3.44), and allowed the fewest hits in the SAL by thirty hits, allowed the second fewest runs and were ranked fourth in the league in strikeouts. The one category they hope to improve on in the playoffs is walks, which is a category that they also led the league in.

Offensively the Captains had the fifth lowest batting average but the sixth highest on base percentage due to the fact they drew the second highest amount of walks in the league. The Captains ranked seventh in the league in runs scored and fifth in the league in stolen bases. Individually, the Captains Matt Brown finished ranked sixth in the SAL with a .308 batting average and 11th in the league in hits. Karexon Sanchez led the club in home runs with twelve.

The Power led the SAL in most offensive categories in 2008. They were the league leaders in batting average, on base percentage, hits, and runs scored. They were third in stolen bases and fifth highest in home runs. West Virginia had three of the top twelve hitters in the league and had three hitters in the top ten in hits.

Eric Fryer won the batting title (.335), led the league in on base percentage (.407) and was second in slugging percentage. Steffan Wilson was second in the league with 100 RBI's, second in runs scored with 91 and tied for fifth in the league with nineteen RBI's. Caleb Gindel was eighth in the league in batting average, third in hits, and fifth in on base percentage. Lee Haydel ended up the season fifth in batting average and eighth in stolen bases.

The Power pitching staff was ranked eighth highest in the SAL in ERA and allowed the eighth highest amount of runs. The staff allowed the sixth lowest amount of hits but walked the sixth highest amount of batters.

The winner for the series will play the winner of Southern Division Championship series between the August GreenJackets and Asheville Tourists. The SAL Championship series is best of five games with the first two games being played in the Southern Division Champions stadium beginning of Monday September 8th.

Tickets for the Captains 2008 SAL home playoff games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467) or at captainsbaseball.com. Tickets for the playoffs remain the same as regular season game tickets, $9 reserved seat, $7 bleachers, juniors, and seniors, $6 lawn. Lawn seats for the playoffs will only be sold once the reserved seats and bleachers are sold out. The $7 group rate will still apply to groups of 20 or more.

The Lake County Captains are a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians and play their home games at Classic Park in Eastlake, at the corners of State Route 91 and Vine Street. For more information on the Captains, please visit the team's official website at www.captainsbaseball.com.

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South Atlantic League Stories from September 2, 2008


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